Microcredit as a potential for change

29th April, 2011

Associação Portuguesa de Bancos (Portuguese Bank Association - APB), some of its members and Instituto de Formação Bancária (the Bank Training Institute) are partners in the Entrajuda DAR A VOLTA (Turn it around) programme.

The programme informs charitable institutions and the people working with them of financial and domestic management instruments that can help them provide more effective assistance to disadvantaged families. The idea is to help needy families or those with unemployment problems “to turn their lives around” so that they can use microcredit to create their own business or employment and in particular to help them break the cycle of poverty through work.

Contributing to improving people's financial culture is one of the APB's goals. Together with Instituto de Formação Bancária, it has been playing a more hands-on role in this area. This partnership with Entrajuda is one of these initiatives and entails preparing and giving training courses on microcredit for the people working at the charities assisted by Entrajuda.

These courses are part of the “Dar a Volta” programme's workshops, and the first phase will take place in five district capitals (Lisbon, Faro, Viseu, Portalegre and Porto). They will be taught by professionals from Barclays, Banco Espírito Santo, Caixa Geral de Depósitos, Millennium bcp, Montepio and Santander Totta, all APB member banks.

The programme is organised by ENTRAJUDA in partnership with Associação Portuguesa de Bancos and Universidade Católica do Porto, with the support of Hotelshop. It also enjoys the collaboration of local partners, such as local authorities and universities, in each district capital.